By Ahmet Sait Akcay
ANKARA (AA) - The U.S. and Russia are competing for control over the PYD/YPG terror group, Turkish foreign minister said on Thursday.
In a televised interview on Turkish channel NTV, Mevlut Cavusoglu said: “While we fight against terrorists, we do not expect our allies to shield us…[But the] strange thing is these days two powers, the U.S. and Russia, are competing with each other for control over a terror group, the PYD/YPG. There is a competition over the terror group.”
Although the PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by both Turkey and the U.S., the previous American President Barack Obama-led administration considered its Syrian offshoot the PYD -- and its armed wing the YPG – as "reliable partners" in the region in the fight against Daesh.
About reports of chemical attacks in Syria, Cavusoglu said: “If attacks keep on going, there will be no sense to hold Astana, Geneva meetings anymore.”
He asked how could negotiations go on when there were reports of chemical attacks in Syria. He also said the need for reforms in the United Nations had become even more urgent following the global body’s silence over the attack.
About whether Turkey intends to launch a military operation to liberate Iraq’s Manbij, he said: “We should eradicate Syria, Iraq-based threats.”
Early Tuesday, more than 100 civilians were killed and 500 others -- mostly children -- were injured in the attack allegedly carried out by the Bashar al-Assad regime warplanes in the town of Khan Shaykhun, Idlib province, according to Syrian opposition government's Health Minister Firas Jundi.
The Syrian regime, for its part, denied allegations it targeted the area with chemical weapons.
Tuesday’s attack came a day after regime aircraft reportedly carried out a similar chlorine gas attack on Idlib’s Al-Habit town, injuring dozens.
Last year, a UN-appointed investigation panel found that chemical weapons were mainly used by regime forces in 2014 and 2015. No punitive measures were taken, however.